The Return
by 157 yrs
Summary: A couple months after the Winter War, the Fourth Espada returns from the dead and travels to the World of the Living to recollect a certain human and former captive.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach**

_Green eyes met silver._

"_Do you fear me?" _

_Time slowed down. His cheeks felt heavy with tears. She looked so sad._

"_No"_

Ulquiorra's eyes opened. He would never admit it out loud but his time in Hueco Mundo, specifically those last hours, still haunted him. The woman's eyes flashed through his mind and then he felt empty again.

_He had almost been able to reach her before... _

Glancing around his darkened room, he saw from the alarm clock on his nightstand that it was still very early in the morning. It was so strange to be in the human world after all his time spent in Hueco Mundo. Although he hadn't told a soul, he had become so accustomed to Hollows that he preferred their presence now over the humans or Shinigami. But with the Winter War still fresh in everyone's mind, Ulquiorra knew better than to express his thoughts out loud. Soul Society was still leery of his involvement with Aizen. No one had given any indication, but he knew that he was being watched.

It was a great privilege that he had been given a second chance and his questionable actions had been "swept under the rug," but he couldn't help but feel empty.

"_What is the heart? If I rip open your chest will I see it? If I split open your skull will it be there?" _

Ulquiorra closed his eyes in regret. The woman had been so strange. He had tried, but even after everything that had happened, he still hadn't been able to understand her. He had tried to so hard to make her see his point of view, to accept what was so obvious to him but she had denied him.

"_I can see it. Of course. My hand is holding the heart."_

He swallowed thickly. Unbidden images of her flashed through his mind. Her silver eyes. Her unique hair color. Her unnerving smile. Her white dress.

Ulquiorra turned over onto his side and pulled the blankets roughly over his shoulder. He did not want to think of her. She was the enemy. The time spent in close proximity to her meant nothing, or at least that was what he kept trying to convince himself. The wounded ache in his chest intensified.

_Orihime Inoue_

There was a tap on the window. Ulquiorra stilled for a moment and waited. Nothing. Slowly he began to relax. He could sense nothing. The sound was dismissed. He needed to try and sleep.

A small, cold, feminine hand snaked its way around his neck. Ulquiorra suddenly felt himself being propelled into the air and then slammed into the wall above his bed. He saw a flash of white clothing and red hair. Then a familiar reiatsu flooded his senses.

"Did you honestly think you could escape me, Ulquiorra?" A flighty voice asked. He knew that voice. It was her, Orhime Onoue, the Fourth Espada.

Despite his helpless position, her hold on him was not painful. The woman had always restrained herself in his presence, even though he knew that as an Arrancar, she could snap him like a twig.

"What do you want?" He asked her dispassionately. He refused to admit that instead of fear, there was a certain satisfaction and longing from seeing her. As if she could read his thoughts, the Espada smiled warmly at him.

Ulquiora noted that she looked exactly the same as the last time he had seen her before her fight with Rukia Kuchiki. Her dress was a pristine white with her ever present Hollow hole resting below the base of her neck. The remnants of her mask aligned the front of her hair with bones in the shape of flowers. There was no sign of her Resurrección state with her fairy like wings or her black and red eyes.

She was beautiful, he realized and then wished he could take the thought back.

"Always so serious. You know, I use to think all humans were like you, but now I can see that you're an odd one." She told him, interrupting his thoughts. Slowly, Orhime brought him down so that his face was at level with hers. They were so close that their bodies nearly touched.

"This is impossible. I saw you die." He started. The woman giggled and pulled him more flush against her. She was always so distracted with her cheerful disposition that he doubted she noticed their proximity. Still, he inwardly squirmed at the close contact.

"One would think that after that last _heartfelt_ moment you would be more pleased to see your captor." She smiled at him. Ulquiorra frowned.

He thought of their last moment as she reached out to him before turning to ash.

"I thought you understood. I thought you had changed?" He asked her evenly. She winked at him.

"I was only just beginning to learn. Even in the end you didn't fear me. You fascinate me, human." She told him. Then Ulquiorra felt himself twirl away from the wall and stumble from his bed and onto the floor. She had pushed him. There was a moment's pause and then he heard a giggle.

"I'm sorry, Ulquiorra. I really do try to be gentle with you." Orihime promised, taking a firm hold of his wrist.

"I can see now, why Lord Aizen was so interested in you." She continued casually as she started to drag him towards the window. Ulquiorra tried to resist but it was no use. Like the first time, he was too weak to resist her.

"Aizen is dead. He has no further use of me." He reasoned. The woman laughed.

"My friends saved me. The bonds of the heart will always prevail. They came for me once and they'll come for me again." He continued. Orihime stopped.

"When will you understand?" She turned around and looked at him, an unusual gleam in her silver eyes. It made him feel uncomfortable.

"No one can save you from me. You will never escape my grasp." She told him simply. Ulquiorra blinked and then the gleam in her eyes was gone.

"Come. We are going home." She told him happily as she reached for his window. Instead of opening it however, she opened a Gargenta . The deep tear of fabric materialized where the glass should have been and then widened to reveal the ugly eye shaped portal that led into the dismal skies and landscapes of Hueco Mundo.

"No, this is my home. I belong here." He stated. Orhime hummed softly in disagreement.

"The Shinigami have not forgotten your role in the war. They suspect you of treason. Your friends doubt you. There is no place for you here." She told him lightly. The ache in Ulquiorra's chest grew. It couldn't be true! Kuchiki and her friends had come and rescued him. They would have never done that if they hadn't believed in him.

"You took me by force. I had no choice! You made me come!" He argued. Orhime shrugged and spared him a sunny smile as she pushed him into the portal, careful not to hurt him again.

"The Arrancar are your allies now. You belong with us." She told him.

_You belong to me._


End file.
